NNSA Meets with Japanese Officials to Discuss Increased Cooperation on Nuclear Safeguards and Nonproliferation

Press Release

Feb 23, 2010

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representatives from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) today met with representatives from Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) to discuss a new agreement for cooperation on nuclear safeguards and other nonproliferation topics. The meeting is the first step in implementing an agreement reached by NNSA Administrator Thomas D'Agostino and MEXT Deputy Minister Moriguchi in October 2009 during the Second International Meeting on Next Generation Safeguards, in Tokai-mura, Japan.

"This agreement between NNSA and MEXT will help the United States and Japan expand on more than three decades of cooperation in nuclear nonproliferation areas critical for the security of both our countries," said NNSA Principal Assistant Deputy Administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Ken Baker. "Today's meetings are an important step forward in developing a plan of action for implementing that agreement. We thank our colleagues at MEXT for participating in this discussion and for productive dialogue on critical nuclear security cooperation."

The agreement between NNSA and MEXT will allow both countries to cooperate on a broad range of nuclear nonproliferation issues. This is consistent with the commitment by President Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Hatoyama to expand nuclear nonproliferation, safeguards, and security cooperation.

Representatives from each organization lauded the agreement as a new framework for increased cooperation, and identified several new areas of collaboration including: testing next generation technology for international safeguards; developing new safeguards approaches for advanced nuclear fuel cycles; conducting joint outreach to third-party countries on infrastructure and human capital development in the areas of safeguards and nonproliferation; and advancing nuclear material measurement and detection methods for nuclear forensics.

The meeting closed with NNSA and MEXT agreeing to draft an action plan for developing further details of the agreement.

Established by Congress in 2000, NNSA is a semi-autonomous agency within the U.S. Department of Energy responsible for enhancing national security through the military application of nuclear science in the nation's national security enterprise. NNSA maintains and enhances the safety, security, reliability, and performance of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile without nuclear testing; reduces the global danger from weapons of mass destruction; provides the U.S. Navy with safe and effective nuclear propulsion; and responds to nuclear and radiological emergencies in the U.S. and abroad. Visit http://www.nnsa.energy.gov/ for more information.